On Wednesday, the political scene of the future appeared in the Parliament. The pre-memorandum political normality, which was dominated by the ND-PaSoK duopoly, returns with remarks that create a climate similar to that of the “derby of the ages” in football. We will come and take the championship from you, Nikos Androulakis essentially said to Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Come with me was the Prime Minister’s reply. It was the first act of a feud that will have several sequels.
The “derby” Mitsotakis-Androulakis, the personal battles that the two political leaders will fight, will undoubtedly have their own importance, they will largely judge the developments and power relations on the way to the national polls. The Prime Minister enters this “duel” having, at the present stage, the lead in almost all categories in relation to the president of the PASOK. But there is one crucial detail. Nikos Androulakis seems to be gaining momentum at the moment Kyriakos Mitsotakis sees the shadows thickening in his image. In the recent Metron Analysis poll, he appeared fourth in popularity behind Nikos Androulakis, Dimitris Koutsoumba and Zoi Konstantopoulou. Mr. Mitsotakis remains, in relation to the other political leaders, first and by a margin in the question “who is considered more suitable for Prime Minister”, but for the first time he saw “Nobody” surpass him by 8 percentage points.
“Your days of omnipotence are over”
The message that Nikos Androulakis wanted to send to Kyriakos Mitsotakis was included in a sentence. “Your days of omnipotence are a thing of the past.” This is the message that PaSoK wants to send to society as well. That the days of the absolute political dominance of the ND are over. And that Mr. Mitsotakis, having ridden the stick of “arrogant behavior” is indifferent and in fact cannot solve the problems that concern the citizens in their difficult daily lives.
At Charilaou Trikoupis, they estimate that the image of Mr. Mitsotakis will receive further blows in the near future. The climate of pessimism in society is not abating, the majority of citizens believe that their lives will get worse, the exactness that insists and the NHS that daily “shouts” for its abandonment, will further burden the political environment for the ND. They also estimate that the conflict that broke out between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Antonis Samaras, as well as the “guerrillas” displayed by the ND MPs, show that the interior of the ruling party resembles quicksand and in any case has added another headache to Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In fact, at a time when the ND is showing cracks in its image, the PaSoK is shooting up its poll percentages that reach the 20% sphere. It has also not gone unnoticed that in the latest poll by Metron Analysis, he appears to have consolidated his dominance among center-left voters while he is recorded in first place in the preference and voters who are placed in the center area.
Nikos Androulakis is not one of those politicians who get disappointed easily, but he doesn’t get excited either. He knows that his re-election gives him and PaSoK air, but the question is continuity and duration. The tactic she will follow against Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be that of a frontal confrontation, but it will not give the impression that Harilaou Trikoupi has chosen a blind conflict with the government. “We will be here as a reliable, serious, progressive force to open the exit door for you with great joy,” he told Kyriakos Mitsotakis, showing the strategy he will follow. The narrow branding of the government at all levels and especially on the fronts of everyday life. The actions and campaigns that Harilaou Trikoupi will “run” in the near future will be focused there. Everything to send the message that the dynamics of things are changing. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the ND after six years of governing the country have entered a cycle of decay in contrast to the PaSoK which is constantly recovering. The political order of things is changing.
“You haven’t changed, you’re one of the same”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis hastened to congratulate Nikos Androulakis, asking them to meet in person. The meeting, as everything shows, will take place, unless unforeseen, in the middle of next week. The Prime Minister seems to be following a double tactic towards the president of PaSoK. He recognizes him, as he showed with his attitude in the Parliament, as his main political opponent as well as his interlocutor and does not seem to wish, at this stage at least, to clash head-on with him.
The Prime Minister, however, at the same time wants to send the message that nothing has changed in PaSoK after the re-election of Mr. Androulakis. “Practically nothing has changed since your re-election. I have the feeling that you have made a 360 degree turn and are in the same place as you were before the process of electing the leader” he said to the President of PaSoK. It is no coincidence that Mr. Mitsotakis called PaSoK because he did not vote on principle the bill for the ASEP which, among other things, speeds up the recruitment of civil servants. Not even his reference to the name of the new Ombudsman. “For 3 months now, the president of the Parliament has been trying to find the necessary majority for a new Ombudsman who has expired for 7 months. We proposed a person who has all the guarantees and certainly does not come from our own political space. And for 3 months we haven’t made a decision. So what do you want?’ the Prime Minister asked the PASOK, which has not yet decided whether or not to support political science professor D. Sotiropoulos.
The message that Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants to convey is that PaSoK has not changed and does not intend to be a force with a will for concessions, but, on the contrary, intends to follow its “no to everything” tactic. The effort that Megaros Maximos will make to present PaSoK, “as SYRIZA with a tie” is aimed at the voters of the center. The assessment of the Prime Minister’s staff after the re-election of Mr. Androulakis was that PaSoK would be able to attract an audience from the left but would not develop dynamics that would threaten the dominance of ND in the center. This assessment does not seem to be justified by the findings of the polls so far. In the Metron Analysis poll, PaSoK takes the lead among voters who declare themselves centrist, while the largest percentage of ND leaks (5.8) goes to PaSoK. At the same time, Harilaou Trikoupi, with the selection of Anna Diamantopoulou as the head of political planning, sends a message to Maximos that she intends to claim the voters of the center with claims.
However, the upward trajectory of Nikos Androulakis and PaSoK offers the ND and Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the ND what they did not have. A political opponent who can do the damage. It remains to be seen whether this risk will be the antidote to the demobilization of the ND base and the complacency of its cadres. In any case, the new political game has just begun.
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